1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an enclosure with a door stop and in particular, to a door stop apparatus providing a positive mechanical stop to hold the door in an open position.
2. Prior Art
Enclosures used in outdoor applications often require a positive mechanical stop for holding the door open. If the door is not balanced or if it is outside and subject to wind, the door may swing shut unless it is held open. The interior of the enclosure should be easily accessible for maintenance, repair or other work that requires the door to be positively held open for extended periods of time. This allows the worker to access the interior without having to hold the door, allowing the worker greater flexibility and improved safety and efficiency.
Simple door stops are often just a wedge placed between the door and the floor. Devices for maintaining enclosure doors, such as doors for electrical enclosures, in an open position typically have utilized a shoulder bolt on a moving arm that drops into a widened area in a channel. Although these devices do keep the door open, this configuration requires careful alignment so that the shoulder bolt drops into the widened hole without hanging up. Often, it may take some jiggling of the door to attain the proper alignment for the bolt to drop through or the door many not stay open. Over time, dirt and grime may build up to make alignment and free movement more difficult. A further problem with such designs is the single orientation to which the device is limited. Left hand and right hand opening doors, or mounting at the top and bottom typically require different embodiments to accommodate the various door configurations. This requires additional parts and raises manufacturing, assembly and stocking costs.
It can be seen that a new and improved door stop device is required to maintain a door in an open position. Such a door should provide a reliable, simple positive mechanical stop to maintain the door in the open position. Such a door should be easily alignable and should accommodate a device mounting in either a left or right opening orientation or be mounted near either the top or the bottom of the door. The present invention addresses these as well as other problems associated with enclosures and door stops.